Although coin handling devices are used for a number of purposes (including gaming devices, vending machines, coin counting devices and the like), coin handling in the gaming industry can generally be considered as relating to either or both of coin input (or acceptance) procedures and coin output (or payout) procedures. In a number of industries, including the gaming industry, coin output typically involves outputting coins of a single denomination from a hopper of coins containing a plurality of such single-denomination coins. In some cases, where output of two or more denominations is required, it may be necessary to provide two or more output hoppers, each of which contains a single denomination of coins. In any case, it is generally desired to provide a device for outputting a single denomination of coin which is as low-cost as possible (in terms of design, construction, maintenance, repair and operation) while having sufficient accuracy and reliability to avoid errors, down time and to minimize maintenance time and/or replacement parts.
Because it is, in general, difficult and expensive to design and construct devices for handling multiple denominations or sizes of coins, and because as noted above, gaming output hoppers typically handle only a single coin denomination, it is believed that most or all previous coin output hoppers, particularly in the gaming industry, are designed to handle only a single denomination of coin. Thus, typically, a coin output hopper designed to output, for example, "silver" dollar coins, would be physically distinct from a device for outputting, for example, quarters.
Even though the physical distinction between devices for handling different denominations may consist only in different dimensions of various components (i.e. devices for different denominations may operate on substantially the same theory), the design philosophy of using physically distinct devices for different denominations has led to relatively high costs associated with converting machines from one denomination to another denomination. For example, owing to factors such as changes in gaming preferences or popularity of various games, or owing to changes in typical coin population mixes (e.g. near international borders), it may, from time to time, be desirable to convert a gaming machine from one which outputs one denomination to a machine which outputs a different denomination. In the past, this has required replacing all of, or components of, the coin output hopper in such machines. It is believed that, in the past, the relatively high cost associated with denomination-conversion of machines was simply accepted and, as a result, it is believed little or no attention has been paid to design of multi-denominational output hoppers, particularly for gaming devices.
Accordingly, it would be useful to provide a coin output hopper which could reduce or eliminate costs associated with changing a gaming device or other coin handling machine from outputting one denomination to outputting another denomination, including the costs, in previous devices of replacing coin output hoppers or components thereof, costs of maintaining a relatively large inventory of coin output hoppers or components thereof, the cost of training personnel to perform such changes and the costs of training personnel to perform maintenance on a variety of different denomination output hoppers.